Sunday, 12 May 2024 by Sagacity

Starrh’s Ferry Precinct Committeeman Campaign

We moved into our new home in September 2022. The move from Fairmont Street to 200 South Road was only a little over a mile. It changed quite a few things. We changed elementary schools, we changed routes to work, we changed Wards, we changed Stakes, and we changed Precincts. We were in the Burley 4 Precinct and now are located, oddly, in the Starrh’s Ferry Precinct.

Starrh’s Ferry is a large Precinct, named after the historical ferry across the river. Here is the language from the historical marker:

“In 1880, George Starrh, a Snake River placer miner, started a ferry across Snake River one mile north of here.

“From 1880-2, freighters hauling supplies for a mining rush to Wood River used Starrh’s ferry (powered by river current when stiff winds were not blowing too hard), and local traffic lasted until Milner reservoir flooded out summer operations after 1904. But a small town with a post office (1909-12) remained there for more than a decade. During that time, nearby bridges replaced Starrh’s ferry.

Late last year the current Precinct Committeeman lost her husband and had some of her own health issues. In conversation she had indicated she did not think she would run again and I said I would be happy to run for the position so she did not have to worry. She was very gracious. Just weeks before the registration period she sounded like she might be planning to run again and suggested she let me know if she was going to do it. A few days before, she let me know she would not be running again. I had heard maybe another lady, Melissa Brown, would be running but nothing was confirmed and the current Committeeman didn’t say anything about another candidate. I threw my hat in the race on the first day for Candidate filing. That same day, Ms. Brown also filed for the same seat. The race was now on.

Before running, I also learned that Gem State Conservatives was building a coalition across the state to help committeeman run in contested races that were considered more mainstream Republican. The basic idea was that various individuals would assist candidates to help ‘right the Republican ship’ from the ‘conservative’ contingent of the party. A wide variety of aids would be made available from access to online registries to the covering of the costs for signs and postcards. There would be total autonomy on which resources we wanted to use, if any. Various meetings would be set up in order to help train on how to navigate the campaign website and even putting together a slogan. Also was the option of networking across the state to learn from other committeeman candidates. These all turned out to be very valuable resources. The meetings also helped provide encouragement in the topsy turvy emotions of a race.

I had assisted with various campaigns throughout the years, from U.S. Senator down to a city Mayor. The basic idea is always the same, connect with the voter. As I downloaded all the registered voters of my Precinct, I realized I already knew or had interacted with about 70% of them in some fashion over the past decade. When I started, the Starrh’s Ferry Precinct had 729 registered voters in roughly 396 households. Some of those are duplicates as married couples living with their parents, or college children, and more, are really not a separate household. There were 358 separate mailing addresses. The work started.

You can see the signs above. They are free to all candidates, but are generic and all basically the same. I was not in love with my short name in such a small fashion. You cannot cuss free signs though. I did my first mailer very early in the season as part of the Presidential Caucus. The Idaho Republican Party was kind enough to provide the Caucus jpeg. It brought about a dozen texts asking for more information. I dare say the flyer was effective as the Starrh’s Ferry Precinct was the best attended of the Precincts that caucused at Burley High School’s King Fine Arts Center.

The next stage was texting or calling every single person on the registered voter list. That turned out to be somewhat of a nightmare. My phone did not like texting over 700 people in two days in April. I did not want to use an auto-dialer. If someone wanted to reach out to me, I hoped they would do so. But then I could also avoid potential federal law on auto-dialers and all the disclosures that sometimes can get problematic. Just me, raw Paul Ross.

That drummed up another dozen conversations. Very helpful. Started quite a few conversations. Interesting how many people responded “STOP” but then were surprised and chatty when they realized a real person was sending out the text messages. A hurdle for me is that I still have my (801) prefix on my phone. Various said they don’t live in Utah. But it also helped cull the herd as many indicated they had moved, no longer lived in Idaho, and various other things. After a series of chats or text chains, a number of people were asking for more.

Now it was time to put up signs. The signs arrived near the end of April. I had my strategic war map of the precinct and where would be the best sites for signs. Gem State Conservatives provided 25 signs. Of course the signs on corners never get much attention. Nothing more than weeds. But well selected sites, with property owners taking ownership of the signs, is best. That conjures up conversations between neighbors, discussions about issues, and questions for candidates to find out their stances. That was less than a sign per square mile in Starrh’s Ferry! I had to be very strategic on which stretches and which houses. Most were very complimentary and willing to help. It was just taking the time to go and visit each site and get the signs up. Hopefully in a way that an Idaho wind wouldn’t remove it. We did have some crazy winds for many days. I did have to replace the stands on more than a dozen signs, more than half of the total signs.

Then the voting started. That is when people started doing some homework and reaching out to friends and family. The first week of voting I lost at least an hour a day from work in responding to texts and addressing questions. It is always nice when the majority of the precinct is already familiar with, knowledgeable of, or circumstantially aware of both the candidates. Discussion and contrasting seems to be easily done and people do it on their own after asking their own questions. I really did not have to present myself, usually just answering questions. I was also surprised by how many of the questions really did not have to deal with my precinct race, but rather the contested Sheriff race (between Jarrod Thompson and Travis Worthington) and the Legislative District 27B race (between Clay Handy and Pat Fields). By giving insight and answers to both of those races, and even the U.S. Representative race (between Mike Simpson, Scott Cleveland, and Sean Higgins), the answers I provided gave them the information they also felt they needed for the Precinct race.

We still have a week of early voting to go and then the election on May 21st. Here are some flyers I have seen for people. Steve Taggart, a friend of mine in Idaho Falls, is running for a Precinct in Bonneville County.

Here is the one for my opponent.

Since I already felt I have connected and did not need to do as much cold-call introductions, I kept mine to the more generic postcard.

There is the profile that is listed for Gem State Conservatives. Here is my biography:

Hi! I’m running for Republican Precinct Committeeman to represent Starrh’s Ferry on the County Rep. Committee. I have helped build and sustain our County party since 2014, serving as Chairman since 2022. I am involved in the community as an attorney, helping bring a public charter school, and more. I am asking for your vote on May 21. Contact me at paulnjross@hotmail.com

I guess we will see how things actually turn out on the 21st. But this week almost a dozen people texted or called to let me know that they voted early. The thought that they wanted to let me know makes me think it was for me (if they are in my Precinct). I voted on the first day early voting opened.

This week I will text everyone in my precinct again to encourage them to remember to vote, either early or on May 21st.

There are so many stories I want to share from discussions, but those will have to be in my journal and not in the public forum of my blog.

Sunday, 8 October 2023 by Sagacity

History of Plain City Pt 2

I have two copies of the History of Plain City, Utah. The front indicates it is from March 17th 1859 to present. As far as I can tell, the book was written in 1977. At least that is the latest date I can find in the book.

One copy belonged to my Grandparents Milo and Gladys Ross. My Grandpa has written various notes inside the history which I intend to include in parenthesis whenever they appear. They add to the history and come from his own experience and hearing.

I will only do a number of pages at a time. I will also try to include scanned copies of the photos in the books. These are just scanned copies of these books, I have not tried to seek out originals or better copies.

History of Plain City March 17th 1859 to present, pages 33 through 38.

Past Bishops of Plain City

Back (l-r): Wilmer J Maw, George E Knight, Elvin H Maw, Charles L Heslop; Front: George A Palmer, Gilbert Thatcher, Henry T Maw

Wilmer J. Maw 1920–1926

George E. Knight 1949–1953

Elvin H. Maw 1944–1949

Charles L. Heslop 1936–1944 (Married Milo Ross & Gladys Donaldson April 1942)

George A. Palmer 1926–1936

Gilbert Thatcher 1913–1920

Henry T. Maw 1910–1913

(l-r): Charles L Heslop, Elvin H Maw, George E Knight, Merrill Jenkins, Lyman H Cook, Rulon Chugg, Wayne W Cottle, Orlo S Maw

Charles L Heslop, 1936-1944

Elvin H Maw, 1944-1949

George E Knight, 1949-1953

Merrill Jenkins, 1953-1959

Lyman H Cook, 1959-1964

Rulon Chugg, 1960-1965, 2^nd Ward

Plain City Ward – Wayne W Cottle, 1964 –

Plain City Ward – Orlo S Maw, 1965

(l-r) Kent Calvert, Robert Sharp, Kent Jenkins

Kent Calvert, 2nd Ward 1971-1974, 3rd Ward 1974-

Robert Sharp, 2nd Ward 1974-

Kent Jenkins, 1st Ward 1971-

PLAIN CITY BRANCH OFFICER

1859 – 1977

Submitted by Roxy Heslop Gilbert Thatcher 1913 – 1920

PRESIDING ELDERS Wilmer J Maw 1920 – 1926

William W Raymond 1859 – 1863 George A Palmer 1926 – 1936

John Carver 1863 – 1866 Charles L Heslop 1936 – 1944

William W Raymond 1866 – 1870 Elvin H. Maw 1944 – 1949

Lewis W Shurtliff 1870 – 1877 George F Knight 1949 – 1953

FIRST COUNSELORS Merrill Jenkins 1953 – 1959

Daniel Collet 1859 – 1866 Lyman Cook 1959 – 1964

John Carver 1872 – 1877 Wayne W Cottle 1964 – 1971

SECOND COUNSELORS Kent Jenkins 1971 –

Jeppe G Folkman 1859 – 1872

PLAIN CITY FIRST WARD

John Spiers 1872 – 1877 FIRST COUNSELORS

CLERKS John Spiers 1877 – 1895

John Spiers 1859 – 1872 Abraham Maw 1895 – 1901

William W McGuire 1872 – 1877 Peter C Green 1901 – 1903

PLAIN City Ward Officers 1877 – 1977 Henry J Garner 1903 – 1906

BISHOP Peter M Folkman 1906 – 1910

Lewis W Shurtleff 1877 – 1883 James L Robson 1910 – 1920

George W Bramwell 1883 – 1906 George A Palmer 1920 – 1926

Henry T Maw 1910 – 1913 Elvin H Maw 1926 – 1936

Gordon F Thompson 1936 – 1944 Abraham E Maw 1936 – 1944

L Rulon Jenkins 1944 – 1949 Fred L Singleton 1944 – 1946

Leslie T Maw 1949 – 1953 Llewellyn Hipwell 1946 – 1949

Elmer Ericson 1953 – 1956 Howard Hadley 1949- 1953

Rulon Chugg 1956 – 1956 William Searcy 1953 – 1955

Thad Carlson 1959 – 1960 Rulon Chugg 1955 – 1956

Carl Lund 1960 – 1964 LeRoy P Folkman 1956 – 1959

A Lew Jenkins 1964 – 1966 Kent Jenkins 1959 – 1964

Darwin J Taylor 1966 – 1971 Delmar L Tanner 1964 – 1969

G Earl Thompson 1971 – 1972 Blaine R Jensen 1969 – 1971

Gary Jackson 1974 – Steven Miller 1971 – 1974

SECOND COUNSELORS Gary Jackson 1972 – 1974

Peter C Green 1877 – 1901 Jerry Bradford 1974 –

Samuel P Draney 1901 – 1903 WARD CLERK

Peter M Folkman 1903 – 1906 William McGuire 1877 – 1887

Peter P Green 1906 – 1907 George Carver 1877 – 1890

William G Rhead 1907 – 1910 Peter C Green 1890 – 1903

William C Carver 1910 – 1913 William Kenley 1903 – 1907

Marion Knight 1913 – 1914 William A Kerr 1907 – 1914

William England, Jr 1914 – 1920 William H Heslop 1914 – 1936

Elvin H Maw 1920 – 1926 LeRoy P Folkman 1936 – 1942

Thomas Jenkins 1926 – 1936 Fred L Singleton 1942 – 1944

Walter Moyes 1944 – 1947 A Glen Charlton 1963 – 1965

A.Lew Jenkins 1947 – 1951 Gaylen Hansen 1965 – 1966

Herbert E Barnes 1951 – 1953 Kent Calvert 1966 – 1971

Blair Simpson 1953 – 1959 Robert Sharp 1971 – 1974

Glen A Charlton 1953 – 1959 Rodney Roper 1974 –

Kent Jenkins 1957 – 1959 SECOND COUNSELORS

Willard Wayment 1953 – 1959 A Glen Charlton 1960 – 1963

Harold Hadley 1959 – LeRoy Folkman 1963 – 1965

Wayne Skeen 1959 – 1965 Denton Hall 1965 – 1971

Vernon Smith 1965 – 1965 Donald Skeen 1971 – 1974

Robert Wade 1965 – John Stevens 1974 –

Clair Truscott 1965 – 1971 CLERKS

Walter Moyes 1960 – 1965

PLAIN CITY SECOND WARD Lewis Moyes 1965 – 1974

Created June 12, 1960 R John Maw 1974 – 1976

BISHOPS Duane Bullock 1976 –

Rulon Chugg 1960 – 1965

PLAIN CITY THIRD WARD

Orlo S Maw 1965 – 1971 Created June 23, 1974

Kent Calvert 1971 – 1974 BISHOPS

Robert Sharp 1974 – Kent Calvert 1974 –

FIRST COUNSELORS FIRST COUNSELORS

Jay Taggart 1960 – 1963 David Petersen 1974 – 1976

Layne Thompson 1976 –

SECOND COUNSELOR

Robert Lewis 1974 – 1976

F. LeRoy Williams 1976 –

CLERKS

Keith Hamp 1974 –

Plain City Chapel. Dedicated 1889. Tore down in 1953. Was built just North of the present chapel.

Another view of the Plain City Chapel of 1889.

Sunday, 11 September 2022 by Sagacity

Ely, Nevada

In May of 2021, the Ross family traveled back to Ely, Nevada. We went the first time in October 2020 with Amanda’s parents and the Hales Family and quite enjoyed our trip. I told Steve Taggart about it and he wanted to go the next time we went. He brought his parents and family down as part of the trip. Here are some photos from both trips.